Fatwa ID: 07660

Answered by Alimah Jannatun Nessa

Question:

What if for some reason there is no muslim witness for nikah and there is no possibility to bring any sort of muslim for witnessing.

Can nikah take place in a situation like this?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

For the validity of nikah the witnesses must be muslim, in the Hanafi madhab the only exception to this is when a muslim man marries a Jewish or Christian woman living in a country run by Islamic law(a.k.a. dhimmi), Imam Abu Hanifa (r.a) and Imam Abu Yusuf (r.a) say that in this case the witnesses may then also be dhimmi, whilst Imam Zufar(r.a) disagrees and says it is still impermissible. 

To conclude, a marriage will not be valid if there are no muslim witnesses present and considering the times we are living in, it is not impossible to find muslim witnesses. The only time it would be impossible to find muslim witnesses is if the bride and groom are the only muslims living on Earth, if this was the situation then due to the desperate need the marriage would be accepted without muslim witnesses.

If you are in a situation where you feel as though it is impossible for Muslim witness to be present then you may send in another question detailing the specifics of your case so that an appropriate solution can be found for you.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Alimah Jannatun Nessa

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

References:

[Radd ul Mukhtar, volume 4, page 93]

و شرط حضور شاهدين حرين او حر وحرتين مكلفين سامعين قولهما معا على الأصح فاهمين انه نكاح على المذهب. بحر مسلمين لنكاح مسلمة ولو فاسقين او محدودين في قذف او اعميين او ابنى الزوجين او ابنى احدهما وان لم يثبت النكاح بهما بالابنين ان ادعى القريب كما صح نكاح مسلم ذمية عند ذميين ولو مخالفين لدينها.

[Qawaid Fiqhiyyah, page 43]

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